Four months after they produced Alekesam - a documentary on the relationship between legendary musician Hugh Masekela and his son Selema - US production and finance company Olympus Pictures is developing a biopic.

On its website, olympus.com, the as yet untitled film is listed under "in development", and the younger Masekela is listed alongside the company's president, Leslie Urdang, and Dean Vanech, Michael Nozik and Paul Haggis as a producer.

South African director Mukunda Michael Dewil - who is fast becoming a favourite in Hollywood (he directed Vehicle 19 with Paul Walker) - will write and direct the film.

The documentary is said to have been inspired by Selema's struggle to step out of his famous "but troubled" father's shadow.

The movie is "set against a background of music, surfing and the waning days of a partheid".

Urdang said: "The riveting narrative is a father/son story filled with surprise, danger, bravery, forgiveness and lots of music."

Jason Bergh premiered his own 35-minute documentary, Alekesam, at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, which was part of the 14th Encounters Film Festival .

Bergh said: "Apartheid, exile, abandonment, addiction, love, and so much more, Alekesam tells the remarkable story of a father exiled from his country and a son exiled from his father ."

In a review, Libertas film magazine said: "Bergh elicits some honest reflections from both Masekelas and gets several amusing sound bites from Levine, a natural raconteur.

"However, he seems to give short shrift to the younger Masekela's mother, considering the critical role she played during his formative years."